Sunday, 9 November 2014

Despite her passionate support for women, Hayek told PEOPLE that she does not consider herself to be a feminist. "I am not a feminist," she said. "If men were going through the things women are going through today, I would be fighting for them with just as much passion. I believe in equality."

This is an important distinction. Feminism isn't about fighting for equal rights. It's about fighting for women's rights.

OK, women didn't have the same rights as men some decades ago. Some people might argue they still don't have the same rights as men, although I'm really not sure.

But the point is that feminists will cry "equality", but only when women are at a disadvantage. They weren't crying out for pension age equality, or for an investigation into why men get longer prison sentences like they cry about the women's pay gap.

I've always pointed out that in some respects, women get a worse deal*, but in other respects, men get a worse deal**. If in doubt, treat everybody equally.

* i.e. mothers tend to earn less than non-mothers, which doesn't just affect them, it affects their husbands as well, assuming households pool their income. This can be sorted out mathematically by paying women sufficient child benefit to make up the gap.

** i.e. men have a later retirement age, but don't live as long. So at a minimum, the state pension age should be the same for both. You could even argue for an earlier retirement age for men. Don't get me started on divorce laws.